Transportation means



- May 21, 1935. H. A. OTIS TRANSPORTATION MEANS Original Filed June 10, 1931 wm AHII h I I- ldl l .I l h- I-III' FI'I 4| I 90 a0 OOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOO 000m 00 R Patented May 21, 1935 "UNITED,- STATE 2,001,935 TRANSPORTATION MEANS Harold A. Otis, Glen Ellyn, Ill., assignor to Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad Company, Chicago,

111., a corporation of Illinois 7 Original application June 10, 1931, Serial Nb.

543,258. Divided and this application ber 11, 1931, Serial No. 580,23?

5 Claims.

9 My invention relates to transport means and is more particularly concerned with a track ve-' hicle and fastening means associatedtherewith for anchoring a road vehicle into place upon said'track vehicle for shipment thereon.

It is recognized that railroads are efiicientand economical in transporting heavy loads at high I pose of transportation on speeds and at a high degree of safety and certainty in comparison with many other means of transportation. On the other hand, road vehicles are advantageous because they may travel almost anywhere, and therefore are not restricted to follow definite or fixed lines of travel as are railroads; Needless to s'ay,road vehicles are also advantageous in cities or towns to make deliveries to one or more destinations, asdesirable, such vehicles being particularly adapted for that purpose. 'Moreover; it is known that in combining the above two forms of transportation,

' the disadvantages of each form are eliminated and-the advantages of both forms are retained. Moreover, to myknowledge, no railroad car has been devised having suitably adjustable means for conveniently and expeditiously 'anchoring any type of road vehicle thereon with complete safety. v i l Fundamentally, the main problem involved is to devise a track vehicle which is particularly adapted for conveying road vehicles and which is provided with economical means for anchoring the road vehicle in fixed position relativeto the track vehicle within a short space'of time;

Initially, a track vehicle of this type should be able to accommodate all kinds of road vehicles a so as to have unlimited utility. Furthermore, it

should not be required or necessary that the road vehicles be made to carry added equipment or to be specially designed in any way for the purthe road vehicle, it being obvious that if either of the foregoing were necessary, the economy and feasibility of the" present invention would be somewhat defeated. Briefly, then, the problem is to suit the track vehicle to the road vehicles without regard'as to what type or size the latter may happen to be,

and inherently to devise a track vehicle which is capable of having the road vehicles quickly secured; thereon and quickly releasable therefrom through adjustable fastening means whereby loading and unloading of' the road vehicles is expeditiously accomplished. a

' Accordingly, the main object of my invention is to provide a track vehicle, preferably in the form of aflat car, for suitably receiving one or'more road vehicles. thereon, and which is equipped of the road vehicle Decemwith suitable means for firmly'securing the road vehicles to the bed thereof, the road vehicles be ingtransported with their own wheels resting upon said bed, yet without interfering with the use of the track vehicle as a conventional flat car. i The provision of a means for securing the road vehiclesinto transportable position in relation to the track vehicle or flat car presented numerous difficulties. For example, the larger road'vehicles'such as moving vans or the like have exceedingly low bodies,'making it difficult for a man to crawl thereunder for attaching a fastening means to the axles or frames thereof. Then again, somewhat smaller vehicles may have sufficient head room for a man to crawl thereunder to attach suitablejfastening means to the frame or axles thereof, but it is apparent that the same means could not be utilized for the larger vehicles forthe reasons above noted. Furthermore, the schemeof securing a road vehicle to the bed of a car by providing suitable fasteningmeans'for attachmentto the frame or axles is further objectionable for three reasons. First, too much time is required in the process of fastening and unfastening the vehicles to andfrom the car bed. Second, the

fastening means should not only comprise mechanism' for holding the wheels of a road vehicle against the bed of a car and to prevent fore and aft movement relative thereto, but should also have the capacityto laterally brace the road vehicle to preventlateral movement thereof on the car'bed. Third, any fastening means that may be permanently located on the bed of the flat car is apt to interfere with the loading and unloading of the road vehicles onto and off of the flatcar, and is also likely to interfere withroad vehicles having considerably underslung bodies when the'latter are being driven or moved into transportable position on the track vehicle. The means which I have devised to overcome the above related difficulties is universally adapted to anchor any type of road vehicle to the car bed, regardless of the wheel base or tread thereof, and regardless of the type of wheels or tires or of the respective dimensions of the same. 'The particular means of my construction extends between the wheels of the road vehicle and the flat car substantially externally of the sides of the vehicle, and functions to hold the road wheels of the vehicle firmly against the bed of the car to prevent fore and aft movement of the road vehicle and to brace thesame laterally to prevent lateral slippage of the vehicle relative to the car, said means fastening means as h r n te'e ee r being completely adjustable for accommodating all types of road vehicles as will hereinafter appear from the detailed description thereof.

Now, in order to: acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and. operating a device of my invention, I shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawing a specific embodiment of my invention.

In the drawingz V Figure 1 is .a side elevational view of a fragmentary portion of a flat car of myconstruction illustrating the application of my new and novel applied to the wheels of a road vehicle mounted upon the car; and

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along the'plane of the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

The fiat car and fastening means herein dis; closed and described are devised for the same purpose as the construction shown in my 00- ehd hs ap lieat e lilee ih l 93 beet es he erl l No, 543 258 the. eubieet ma te o the Pres nt e plle eh b in a divis on at h ti said ee at eh-..

The ear, n enera eehiprle es tra ls whe ls. I

emb died in a su tab e t u k 2 wh ch ay be s anda e he eretetred. d si n the Whe l he eof e ng ada ted te ri h il of rall eeelhe Wh el ruc s and. ai s m y he o s ndard esis and tand rd sens or of any re red e hettue ehend auge he m in 1 09 5 5 t he ear s. su ably he ht l u on the truth th eueh eivet e hheetiehe uch a a Well uhderete d b these skilled the ar nd which 0 m themse es. h hevel featur ef h presen ihvehtieh The heel-r in lude a be er pla rm' adapted a runw y fe he eed vehie e he eel he of any s it-- b e hst uetieh. but is ereterahl hf s eel boi e late u ed by welding. i et ng er bel in to e. ransverse. ehehhele of he he ee eci by h c nt a ir ers @e a. hair et lensituelh ll xt ndin ehehh treat 11 a e. s ured. o he undersi o the rans rs heh e e '5 a re nereelh t mean r 1 A e v t a eheltu lhell di ee d late 6 are. uita s eered to he sides of he een plateS e eie eehe derehl abo the fee-e. t h l l tes 4 and ee e l te a par f he le elt d helhr x endin ua wh h fun ion to p ve t. the r e ve ie esfrom eeide tel llin and. uh ed lie the ant o e shard;

e the hen le din seine th reflfem, Th b lr-uetuee om sed of reh 3 wh h constitu es e. r in ere hs ie e.- twe h th la es and 6 and provides the inner all. o t gua 1-. A l i on al ke-w se. h n udina of h ea an 'ser as oi ihe. e ements betwee the. Z-imn 8; and e. plates i a a e e r ided; f anot er to be he na t e ri d I s te e unde stood h t l o he afo esa elements ma be sec e 1y fa te ed t seth ein a y desired and; a h h e in ma he 'e et rehle r vets er bolts wi l ser e fer he s me purp se-.- Re r n n w me al ie lerly' to F u e 2;, i tee heteel hat h side at s. 6 are pro.-v vi -ee w th e P ueh y o perfora ions i hrQugh-. eat h ir len h, he p r era ie s beihs o located th be tetn. e se e th e t ee les he a ele he s i- Li ewis the bed t e ar is s hl'e e d ith a plura ty of he te e ieh dispo d u tant a l hs' he ehe ih ma i s of he heel. and als thr ghout the. lee h e the eat as best. l ustrat d;

Figure 2. The perforations I0 and H may be of any suitable size or shape so as to comply with various conditions and uses, and may be located and spaced in any desirable predetermined manner. The bed is further provided with angle irons l2 secured to the underside thereof, the angles extending longitudinally of the car and adjacent the perforations H as 7 indicated in Figure 2, the purpose of which being hereinafter explained.

All of the foregoing description relates directly to the construction of the railroad car per se, and the car portrayed thereby is, as it stands, capalele of receiving and accommodating not only loads ordinarily transported by railroad, but is particularly devised for the reception of various types of cooperating fastening devices to! secure road vehicles to the bed of the car in transportable position, a preferred form of such a fastening device being hereinafter described in detail.

My preferred construction of fastening means m ris s a pair f s dles 21 joined by mean Oi chain 22 or the like, each of said saddles being provided with a chain 23 or other suitable means hav ng a hook 24 connected therewith throughadjustable means such as a turnbuckle 2 5. In securing a road vehicle to; the fiat car by the aforesaid fastening means, the saddles 2i are placed upon the tire or wheel of the road vehicle in spaced relation. to eachother as determined by the length of chain 22 which may also be made adjustable as by incorporating turnbuckle means th r f r: When the saddles 2. hav be n positioned upon the tire o-r wheel, the, chains 23 may be crossed in some such fashion as illustrated in Figure l and the hooks 24 may then be inserted into; certain of the perforations ID as illustrated in Figure 1. The hooks 24 are ordinarily inserted 21110135 1 the perforations I0 when the fastening deviee'is being utilized for anchoring larger road vehicles upon the. flat car. However, if the fastening means is being utilized for anchoring smaller vehicles or vehicles having a narrower tread upon. the flat car, the hooks 24 may be inserted into the perforations H in the manner best illustrated to the right in Figure 2.

When'utilizing a fastening'means of the present construction it is desirable to have the chains 23 disposed in such positions as to pass through he axial center of the wheel to eliminate all forces may tend to turn the wheel and which might. act to dislodge the saddles 2! therefrom, Ifhis. is readily accomplished by inserting the hooks Z'into certain selected perforations I0 O1. 5!, which. will so, dispose the chains. This method of mounting the saddles is. not absolutely essential, however, particularly where the pair ofsaddles are connected together as by means of the chain 22. It is evident that only a single saddle may be used for each wheel as. the sole fastening by plat-sing. the chain either forwardly or rearwardly of: the axial center of the wheel and by connectin the ,tensioning means of the saddle to the car either rearwardly or forwardly of the axial center line of the wheel, respectively. It is also apparent, that it is fully possible and within the contemplatedscope of the present invention to provide a single chain in place of the chains 22 and 23., by stringing the chain through suitable openings in the saddles similarly located as the openings therein provided for fastening the chains 22 and 23 to the saddles.

It is. to be noted that the hook members 24 are of such length-and size, that when they are in sorted into either the perforations III or II, that the hooks 24 will engage the vertically disposed legs of the longitudinally extending angle irons 9 and I2, respectively. In this manner, the car bed and the guards are reinforced, and tearing of v the metal comprising the latter elements will be substantially eliminated.

Although not necessary, the fiat car may be provided with a raised center or mound as indicated in dotted lines at 21' to provide a guide for vehicles of smaller tread sizes. Such a mound acts to aid in centering a road vehicle upon the car. The centering of the vehicles will also allow the respective fastening means to be disposed symmetrically, whereby all of the respective means will be subjected to practically the'same stresses during transportation. 1

It is apparent that changes may be made in the specific structural elements in the preferred combination shown which will notdepart from the field and scope of the present invention. Therefore, I do not intend to be strictly limited to the specific description and illustrations of the device, but only insofar as the appended claims are so limited.

What I claim is:-- V

1. In combination, a track vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle on the track vehicle, a saddle structure engaging over the upper portion of a wheel of the road vehicle and extending forward and rearward of the axis of said wheel, and securing means comprising two' tension members disposed substantially radially of said wheel and connecting the rearward and forward portions, respectively, of the saddle structure to the track vehicle at points disposed within the width of the wheel, said members being independently secured at their lower ends to said track vehicle, one of said members extending downward and rearward from the forward portion of said saddle structure and the other of said members extending downward and forward from the rearward portion of said saddle structure.

2. In combination, a track vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle on the track vehicle, a saddle structure engaging over the upper portion of a wheel of the road vehicle and extending forward and rearward of the axis of said wheel, and securing means comprising two tension members disposed substantially radially of said wheel and connecting the rearward and forward portions, respectively, of the saddle structure to the track vehicle at points disposed within the width of the wheel, said members being independently secured at their lower ends to said track vehicle, one of said members extending downward and rearward from the forward portion of said saddle structure and the other of said members extending downward and forward from the rearward portion of said tively, of the saddle saddle structure, said securing members being under tension and one intersecting the other at a point substantially in the vertical plane of the wheel axis.

3. In combination, a track vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle on the track vehicle, a saddle structure engaging over the upper portion of a wheel of the road vehicle and extendingv forward and rearward of the axis of said wheel, and securing means comprising two tension members disposed substantially radially of said wheel and connecting the rearward and forward portions, respecstructure to the track vehicle at points disposed within the width of the wheel, said members being independently secured at their lower ends to said track vehicle, one of said members extending downward and rearward from the forward portion of said saddle structure and theother of said members extending downward and forward from the rearward portion of said saddle structure, said securing members being under tension and one intersecting the other at a point substantially coincident with the wheel axis.

4. In combination, a track vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle on the track vehicle, a saddle structure engaging over the upper portion of a wheel of the road vehicle and extending forward and rearward of the axis of said wheel, and securing means comprising two tensionmembers disposed substantially radially of said wheel and connecting the rearward and forward portions, respectively, of the saddle structure to the track vehicle at points disposed within the width of the wheel, said members being independently secured at their lower ends to said track vehicle, one of said members extending downward and rearward and outward from the forward portion of said saddle structure and the other of said members extending downward and forward and outward from the rearward portion of said saddle structure.

5. In combination, a track vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle on the track vehicle, a saddle structure engaging over the upper portion of a wheel of the road vehicle and extending forward and rearward of the axis of said wheel, and securing means comprising two tension members disposed substantially radially of said wheel and connecting the rearward and forward portions, respectively, of the saddle structure to the track vehicle, one of said members extending downward and rearward and outward from the forward portion of said saddle structure and the other of said members extending downward and forward and outward from the rearward portion of said saddle structure. I

HAROLD A. OTIS. 

